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When will a diesel be available for my aircraft? |
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News, facts, and comments on the coming revolution for piston-engine aircraft.News of June 29, 2005News and photos from Illka, Norway, rf. 172 ThielertIllka, operating and selling in Norway a 172 Thielert, writes: As a quick summary of the aircraft, its base weight is about 30kg heavier than a standard C172 with a O-320 engine. An as Jet-A1 is heavier than 100LL too, with full fuel the aircraft is reduced to a 3-seater. If you fill the tanks to 1/2, you'll have the same range and usable load than with an O-320. The engine burns about 19litres/hour (or 4.9gph) of fuel. Jet-A1 costs in Finland about 0,75eur/litre while 100LL will set you back about 1,40eur/litre, so we're talking about really significant fuel savings here. Performance-wise the Thielert-engine matches a 150/160hp gasoline engine. Our club also operates an another C172 with a 150hp O-320 and both have quite similar ground level performance. At higher altitudes the turbo-charger and variable pitch properller start to have a big effect as the diesel aircraft easily climbs to 10 000ft at ~450fpm. Operating the engine is very simple, it starts like a modern car and does not require any of the traditional trickery when being started hot, cold or warm. In this gallery you can check out some photos taken at various locations, all featuring a jet-smelling Cessna: Go to: http://dev.mik.fi/gallery/OH-CAU posted at 9:05 PM News of June 22, 2005Do you own a Beech Duke?We are opening contact with a German team working on an STC to convert the Beech Duke with the Thielert Centurion 350HP 4-liter engine. We open now a list of aircrft owners who may be interested. If it is your case, contact us! posted at 5:42 PM News of June 21, 2005Thielert, SMA and Delta Hawk: Same old engine philosophies competing together, plus 2-stroke engine as wild cardThielert and SMA are following the opposite piston engine philosophies which co-exist in aviation since WW1: Radial or opposite cylinder, air/oil cooled engine with the prop directly on the crankshaft, against In-line engine, liquid cooled, running faster than the prop which is geared: during WW2, Pratt & Whitney R-2800 (Thunderbolt, Corsair, Hellcat…) against Rolls Royce Merlin (Spitfire, Mustang…)! And 2-stroke diesels (Delta Hawk, Wilksch, Zoche…) are going to add to the debate. But as of now it is difficult to talk about competition: all aero diesel manufacturers are helping each other creating the market and giving credibility to the diesel concept, and any one getting into trouble would hurt the others. Also it is difficult to anticipate if a technology will clearly take the lead until more STC's show clearly which solution offers a significantly high TBO with the highest Power/Weight Ratio, measured for the whole aircraft and not simply for the naked engine. We expect that, the bigger the diesel engine, the better it will compare with the equivalent gasoline engine because of its smaller cylinder size and overall cubic capacity. So, the future diesel market will eventually, dollarwise, be for 300-400HP engines flying intensively. A 600HP engine is more questionable because it would compete head-on with turboprop solutions, but possible because of its tremendous fuel consumption advantage, especially at economy cruise. posted at 5:29 PM HPA's TT62 twin Centurion 350 HP: The GA Aircraft of the FutureIf you want to see a truly amazing plane, visit http://www.hp-aircraft.de/edoc/news.html#optimzing to get acquainted with the TT62 and its manufacturer the High Performance Aircraft Company in Germany. The TT62 has 2 Thielert 350 HP V-8's located in-board and actuating, through transmission drives, two propellers positioned where turbojets are in a business jet. It is flying since 2/05, cruises at 240 Knots at 20,000 ft and has a standard range of 1,700 NM consuming around 18Gal./h. (Yes, 18 Gallons…Cessna, Piper and Beech, wake up, here is the future: America to Europe in 3 legs and back with less than 800 gallons of jetfuel.) It will constitute an interesting low cost alternative to the new minibusiness jets popping around everywhere. The other application of the 350HP sofar is a private German STC program for a Beech Duke. posted at 5:26 PM Which diesel conversions are FAA STC'd in the US in June 2005?As of today, it seems that the only aircraft diesel conversion which is STC'd in the US is the Cessna 172 Thielert. All other known conversions are STC'd in Europe and some other countries, but not in the US yet, unless the automatic equivalence between JAA and FAA certifications (agreement by which if a product is JAA certified, it is FAA certified as well and vice-versa) applies. Remark: It did not work for the SMA 182 because supposedly the European certification was effected on a Cessna 182 made in France under license by Reims Aviation! This may change very quickly: We expect before end of year the US STC's for Thielert's and SMA's Piper PA28, for SMA's Cessna 182 and possibly others. posted at 5:24 PM Thielert Centurion leads the world diesel market with over 400 engines flying, demonstrates its 350HP V8 diesel on HPA's futuristic TT62 twin.Thielert Motoren GmbH was set up in Hamburg by Frank Thielert in 1989, occupied initially with the restoration of Italian and other antique sportscars and racecars, and technical support to motorsports. It gradually became an engine specialist advising racing-teams and supplying engines elements and components to Lotus, Porsche and others. In 2000, Thielert engaged into aero diesels with the foundation of subsidiary Thielert Aero Engines (TAE) in Lichtenstein, Germany. Today the facilities of the group produce engine components and operation for the aviation and automotive industry as well as for motorsports, and jet fuel diesel aero engines of the CENTURION line for General Aviation. The photograph you will see by visiting http://info.thielert.com/tae_en/main/fototour/fototour.php?catid=5&picid=105 showing in formation a Cessna 172, a Diamond DA40, a Robin 135 CDI and a Piper PA28, all using the Centurion 135 HP, illustrates the impressive impact of Thielert's Centurion engine. Thielert now is a group of 220 employees (of which 150 with TAE) generating sales around $ 40 million. It has manufactured over 650 Centurion 1.7 (2003: 216; 2004: 405; 2005 goals: 700) which makes it clearly the world leader. Over 400 of them are flying in general aviation aircraft with cumulated 60.000 flight hours. The engine is certified in 17 different aircraft types. The retrofits for the Cessna 172 K, L, M, N, P, R and S are now FAA certified. Very soon the FAA certification for the Piper PA28 will follow. In Europe they are waiting for the Robin DR400 certification. It will be the 3rd OEM aircraft. In April Thielert announced that Centurion now has 8 representative sales partners worldwide. Over 60 authorised and audited service centres, spread across more than 20 countries, guarantee service for engines. More service centres have already been trained this year. However, things are not moving as fast as one could want in the US. EPIC Aviation is Centurion's sales representative but only for Latin America so far. Diamond Aircraft is taking orders for the DA 40 and 42 diesels but has refitted the DA 42 to Lycoming as an option because of lack of technical support so far. A common misperception of Thielert is that they would be somewhat affiliated to DaimlerChrysler and dependent on them for supply of key engine components. DaimlerChrysler is one of their customers for automotive prototype components, and does supply engine parts. Thielert has contracts with them for future parts deliveries, and is excluded contractually in all questions of liability. Blueprints, drawings and procedures are Thielert's own design (Gearbox, complete electronic system with FADEC, intake manifold, exhaust and cooling system etc.). The Thielert crankshaft is in forged steel and is original. So are the turbo charger (from Garrett), the high pressure pump and the common rail injection system (from Bosch). The origins of the Centurion 135HP are unquestionably in automotive (Mercedes diesel 2.2 liter), but it is not a conversion of an existing motor diesel; and the V-8 350 HP is an entirely new design. The most comprehensive test report on the 172 Thielert is from a French pilot magazine, and is very positive. When comparing the 172 Thielert and the 182 SMA one must remember that a diesel (which is utrbocharged) maintains power with altitude much better than a non-turbocharged gasoline engine. With 135 HP and a constant speed propeller, the 172 offers basically the same performance than a O-320 172 with a fixed pitch prop. With 230HP at 2,200rpm and a three blade prop, the 182 SMA is a bit faster and climbs faster than a O-470 182 of 230HP at 2,300rpm with a two blade prop. Note that the initial conversion of an existing single engine is complex and costly because it requires major modifications of the whole engine mount and cooling system of an aircraft which was designed for Opposite piston air cooled engines. If the plane has a retractable gear the conversion is even more complex because of the front wheel well taking a lot of space. We guess the conversion of a conventional twin with engines in the wings should be easier. posted at 5:20 PM |
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